Google Pay Announces "Buy Now, Pay Later" Scheme. How It Works

To make shopping easier and safer, Google on Wednesday introduced three new features to its payment app — Google Pay. Along with displaying the user's card benefits, these updates also include the “buy now, pay later” options, and securely autofill the card details.

The tech giant announced these updates in its blog, saying shoppers would tell them the three things they cared about the most when checking out online -- security, convenience and access to smart spending tools. Google Pay said that its new feature ticks those boxes, giving the customer a safer and more helpful checkout experience.

About the “Buy Now, Pay Later” option, the company revealed that it was available to US shoppers, who make transactions in USD.

It's an alternative payment method that allows users to make a purchase and pay for it over a series of instalments. 

The blog stated that the ‘buy now, pay later' was becoming an increasingly popular payment option. 

Google Pay recently expanded the option to even more merchant sites and Android apps, it said. The US shoppers can either link their existing account or sign up with a provider right then and there, it added.

As a part of these updates, now Google Pay users can easily see their card benefits. Explaining the same, the company said that this update would help users make shopping decisions easily.

While the American Express and Capital One cardholders can see their benefits starting Wednesday, the company plans to expand this feature to more cards in future.  

Many credit cards offer shopping rewards and savings. However, if you have several of those with perks, it can be difficult to figure out which one has the best rewards for your purchase. Making it easier for you, Google Pay will show your card benefits at checkout.

American Express and Capital One cardholders checking out on Chrome desktop will see select benefits for specific cards in the autofill drop-down, the feature will be expanded to more cards in the future, Google Pay said.

Now, Google Pay users can easily fill in their card details, using their fingerprints, face scan or pin.

Autofill on Chrome and Android helps you save time at checkout, allowing you to automatically fill in your shipping, billing and payment details, it said. "And to give shoppers an even faster and more secure experience, we're updating the way you can verify your card details." 

It added, “The next time you check out using autofill on Chrome or Android, you'll have the option to automatically fill in your full card details the same way you unlock your device — with a fingerprint, face scan or screen lock PIN — instead of manually adding your security code. In most cases, autofill will complete your form without any additional requirements, except on occasions when we detect something suspicious.”

It is worth noting that the users can also set up device unlock, wherein the app will ask them to unlock their device before unveiling their full card details.

This feature ensures “your card isn't used by others with access to your device.”